Connection is the Key

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“Promly”, a rising tech organization aimed to always be “10 steps ahead of suicide”, will be launching a suicide prevention app ‘FOR’ Gen Z, ‘BY’ Gen Z! Founded by veteran adolescent psychotherapist Jennifer Libby, the organization has teamed up with a committed Gen Z advisory team, youth education and health specialists, and app developers to create a safer social networking app. The app is exclusively for high school students and is meant to establish more genuine connections between teens.

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With suicide numbers amongst children and teens rising annually, Jennifer has been fighting for our youth, sitting down and or demanding an audience with various prominent groups, and endlessly pushing for change. Among the notable audiences was the Center for Human Technology (creators of the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma”) where technology fueled addiction, disconnect, and mind control was discussed. The other, was the U.S. House of Representatives where Jennifer spoke on her ongoing efforts to disrupt or eliminate the “how to tie a noose” and “how to hang yourself” videos on YOUTUBE.  A startling number of these videos were made by teens, and of note, suicide by hanging amongst the youth has rapidly increased over the last 10 years. This poor usage of media platforms is what fuels the Promly app and asks of our current platforms to “do better”.

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Formally launching in early 2022, the app will be introduced at Promly’s first annual, star studded ChangeMakers Festival on September 9, 2022. Hosted in Newark NJ at the infamous Prudential Center, the festival will include celebrity musical acts, live art, dance performances, and various live entertainment by the local youth. The festival will be geared to raise awareness of Promly as well as other socially responsible corporate sponsors and partner nonprofits, engaging teens in and outside of the local community, and to destigmatize the mental health crisis amongst young adults.  In addition, Promly ChangeMakers, Promly’s online publication, aims to amplify the Gen Z voice by welcoming Gen Z writers, ambassadors, influencers, and podcasters to reach out and contribute should they want to get involved with changing outcomes and ultimately saving lives.  The Promly team states, “It's hard if not impossible to get kids to consistently use mental health apps or resources that may actually help. Thus, Promly is not waiting for teens to seek help or crisis support. We are giving them hope by bringing the conversation & resources to them in their world where they want to be.”